Reza Pahlavi criticised the current regime for being ‘sort of backward’, ‘religiously rooted’ and ‘extremely repressive’. Some may find this to be an interesting statement from a Pahlavi, the ruling family who were directly responsible (with the helping hand of the CIA and Israel) for the creation of SAVAK, the secret police who carried out the systematic repression, killing and torture of opponent groups of the Shah.

Reza Pahlavi is the son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran to have sat on the throne prior to the 1979 revolution. The young prince left Iran at the age of 17 to attend military school in the US, and following the collapse of his father’s regime he never returned. He now lives in the states with his family and according to the interview with associated press says:

"My focus right now is on liberating Iran, and I will find any means that I can, without compromising the national interests and independence, with anyone who is willing to give us a hand, whether it is the U.S. or the Saudis or the Israelis or whomever it is."

Reza Pahlavi's daughter Noor Pahlavi has also made the headlines recently due to her popular instagram following. She currently has over 46.9K people following her page.

She seems to be a little out of touch with her fellow countrymen in Iran, who are suffering against the pressures of a shrinking economy, Noor regularly posts photos of her lavish lifestyle of party-going and vacationing in the trendiest spots.